


The Learning Curve

by Ilithiya



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Sort of? - Freeform, Ultimate Hunt, also based a bit off of the, but you'll see, first ao3 fic send help, friendships formed through life-threatening situations, i guess, that's always fun right?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 13:59:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13366191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilithiya/pseuds/Ilithiya
Summary: Maki looked more lost than she’d ever looked before, and Shuichi sucked in a breath as the realization hit him: she may actually know very little about the Hunt at all.(A detective and an assassin are an unlikely alliance at best, but the occasional manhunt doesn't give you many options.)





	The Learning Curve

**Author's Note:**

> Who's prepared for a weird AU? Buckle in kids.

His uncle’s first rule was to always be aware of the time. So Shuichi should have known from the second he awoke alone in Hope’s Peak’s library, dazed and confused and with his face in his textbooks, that he had already screwed up.

It hit him about twenty seconds later, when he remembered what day it was and looked at his wristwatch.

Fifteen minutes after 2 AM.

His limbs grew cold with the realization that he needed to get out of that library right then and there.

_They’ve been up for fifteen minutes, maybe more, who knows where everyone is?!-_

Shuichi left his books and his belongings where they were - he would get them back in the morning - and quickly ran through what he knew of the library. It could be locked from inside. Two exits where he was on the second floor, one leading to the first floor, one to the third. The nearest exit to the left, he should check there first.

The closest doors had windows in them, so it was best to be cautious. He approached the doors from the side, straining his hearing for any sound of all.

Nothing.

He slipped out quietly, glancing around every which way. To his relief, only the dim and empty halls of the second floor awaited him. Then he became very acutely aware of the lack of space compared to the library.

_Oh no, no, not this. Uncle warned me about this._

Another reason to leave the building quickly, as if Shuichi didn't have enough of them. The stairs were likely a bad option, but he knew the side of the building where he could access the roof, and from there he would be free-

Wait.

 _Wait_.

He could hear something… Boots against the floor, and was that a voice? He couldn't decipher any words, but that was someone’s voice. Actually, no- multiple people, and some of their voices rang alarm bells in his head and dropped cold dread into his stomach.

_My classmates, I should've known better, why did I fall asleep in that library?!_

They were heading his way, and the walls felt close, so he bolted for the nearest stairway. More voices down below, footsteps approaching from behind; the only direction left was up.

The third floor hall felt just as confined as he rushed through it. The second rule was to always know four exits - the windows up here wouldn’t count, there was no safe way to exit them, what were his other options he had to _think_ but he was starting to feel like he was trapped in a box. He cursed the fact that he had no classes up on that floor, otherwise he would know it better, but he could hear angry shouts and someone running up the stairs behind him and he had _no time_ -

Knowing that it was a horrible idea, he dove into the nearest classroom. If there were no exits, he would have to hide for the time being, even if it drove his building paranoia wild. Now, he just had to pick a place to hide…

He scanned the classroom quickly - once, twice - there weren’t many good places, which was to be expected of a classroom, he supposed, but that didn’t help him at all, what was he supposed to do?

Thirty seconds, thirty seconds-

Wait, he knew just where he could hide.

He hopped up onto a desk and pushed open one of the ceiling panels - he’d seen the janitors push them aside to fix the light fixtures - just enough to crawl inside. If the classroom was dark, the space up above was even darker, and its small space was cramped with thick bunches of wires. He could only fit because he was almost worryingly thin. Still, even if he felt like it was pressing against his ribs and he could almost imagine that the wires would tangle around him, it was better than being down there. He closed the panel behind him, and held his breath.

Seconds later, the classroom seemed to erupt with noise. He tried to identify every single one of them - the door, a pair of light shoes moving around, some objects falling off a desk?, movement in the halls - then it was dead silent.

He silently counted the seconds as they passed, twitching and shifting uncomfortably all the while. He didn’t dare to breath, just in case someone was down there and they could hear it, but he was shrinking into himself everything was too close he was going to be crushed under the weight of everything he needed to get out of there he couldn’t stay in there any longer-

Slowly and quietly, he slid it open just enough to see into the dark classroom below.

_THUNK._

Shuichi recoiled, his head hit the ceiling above him, he heard something that sounded like crashing, and the next thing he knew he was lying on the classroom floor with the ceiling panel still underneath him and someone standing over him, lifting something blunt and heavy up high as if to bring it down on his head-

“Maki?!”

She froze. It was a bit dark in the classroom, but Shuichi knew he’d gotten it right - if the long hair and bright eyes weren’t enough, her reaction was.

“…So you’re lucid.” Maki muttered.

The adrenaline in his blood was running wild, his head hurt - for a moment he couldn't process what she'd said. “…‘Lucid’?”

Her eyes narrowed, and the red looked unusually vivid. “Yes,  _lucid_. You can see me properly. You’ll remember this conversation come morning. Unlike everyone else in our damn class.”

Wait…

He shot up so that he was sitting straight. “You’re a Runner?!”

“Right.” She curled her lip with distaste. “That. Sure.”

As he pulled himself back up, he reached for his forehead, where the mark that damned him as a Runner sat. “Th-That doesn't even make any sense - you’re an assassin, how are you a Runner?!”

“What, did you expect me to be one of the lunatics hunting everyone down? It would've made things a hell of a lot easier for me,” she spat. Maki reached for her upper arm - the one holding her makeshift weapon: the metal stand of a projector - and Shuichi could see the new tears in the sleeve of her nightshirt, and the stains in it that grew darker with every second that passed. If there had been any doubts or any suspicions that this had been a ploy to lower his guard, they vanished at that moment; Hunters wouldn't injure each other, even as a wounded gazelle gambit to gain the upper hand.

Shuichi slowly brought himself to his feet, noticing how his fingers shook and twitched uncontrollably. He wasn’t in the ceiling anymore, but the feeling of being trapped in a confining box hadn’t vanished, and it compounded the anxiety that grew from knowing that there could be anyone right outside the door. It worsened when he saw Maki stiffen.

“What is i-”

“Shut up, I can’t hear.”

“Uhm… Alright,” Shuichi mumbled, more to himself. He strained his hearing, trying to pick up whatever Maki was hearing. What _was_ that? A rhythmic sound… the tap of a sole? Four soles?

_Oh._

Maki seemed to bristle, he saw her fingers clench around the projector, he didn’t dare to make a sound.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

 _“Hold on, they passed through here. Look around._ ”

That whisper was maybe three feet from the door.

“ _…You’re right… Should we check this place?_ ”

Shuichi’s arms grew cold in his sleeves he waited for something to happen. The seconds passed, and with each one the air seemed to still and yet grow ever more stifling, the walls were pressing closer, he could almost hear the lock rattling even though nothing was happening, nothing, not yet…

“ _...Further down._ ”

“ _You sure?_ ”

“ _Positive._ ”

“ _Alright, we’ll keep moving._ ”

Then the footsteps started again. Shuichi could differentiate the two gaits this time - one was steady and relaxed, the other lagged behind, with shoes scuffing the floor a bit. Then it was gone, and the halls were quiet again.

“What the hell was _that_?” Maki hissed.

“More Runners, perhaps?”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to open the door and check.”

“No.”

“…You heard what they said, right? That those bloodthirsty maniacs might have heard us.”

That thought made Shuichi’s fingertips twitch with building anxiety. The room felt smaller, he couldn’t shake the feeling off, simple logic wasn’t working. He glanced around the classroom - the only escape option he could see was the window, but they were on the third floor. Just two escapes, not good, he should never have hidden in that classroom, _he should have never fallen asleep in the goddamn library_ -

“Then we should run,” he breathed. “Before they get here!”

“Where, into the halls?!” She snapped back incredulously. “After we _just_ heard people out there?!”

“You want to be in _here_ when they come?! Because they wil-”

“Of course I don’t!”

“Then-”

“Then what are my options, _detective_?! And what are _your_ options, for that matter?! Either we barricade ourselves in here for a few hours or we run out there like a couple of suicidal morons!”

Had he not been on the verge of panic, Shuichi would have sighed. The third of his uncle’s rules: if he couldn't find at least four available exits, he shouldn't stay in that room. It was the first hunting night he was away from home and his uncle, and Shuichi had already broken the first three rules; at this rate, he would be dead by morning. His treacherous mind leaped down that train of thought- Hope’s Peak's janitors likely had a morning sweep like the other schools he’d gone to, they would find his body then, and like every other victim of the Hunt they would quietly carry him off somewhere where no one would find him, where no one would ask questions, just another casualty to be quietly forgotten-

“ _We can't stay in here_!”

“ _Then do you have a plan_?!”

Shuichi swallowed the lump in his throat, and covered his mouth with his paling hand as he tried to think through the tangle of wild thoughts in his head. _What to do, what to do…_ Go over it again. His two exits were the door and the windows. The door was definitely not an option. Since they were on the third floor, neither were the windows. That was, unless they had a good way of getting down… But how could they get down safely from a straight drop?

“I-I can’t think of anything!”

He had never seen anyone look so unimpressed in his entire life, and that really didn’t help the fact that his heart was beating wildly in his ears and crawling up his throat and threatening to choke him right then and there. There was no space, he needed to breathe, he needed to _run_.

His uncle had warned him of this sort of panic before, hadn’t he?

“Then I’m setting up a barricade!”

“ _What_?!”

“Well, _you_ clearly don’t have a better idea!”

“But we can't stay in here all night - we have to get _out_!” The thought of staying in that room for another hour or so, hearing too much and feeling the lack of space compressing him, he was going to be sick, he could already feel the blood draining from his face-

“You keep saying that- how do you suggest we do that?!” She gestured towards the door. “As far as we know, _ninety percent of this school is trying to kill us right now_!”

His hand shot up to grip the brim of his hat like a lifeline. “I d-don’t _know_!”

“ _Then shut up and let me move all this_!”

“Well, can’t _you_ fight them off?!”

She whirled on him in a fury of dark hair and burning eyes and roared, “I’VE ONLY GOT A PROJECTOR AND A WALKING TWIG! DO YOU _WANT_ TO DIE?!”

For a while, they were both at a loss for words, her face burned an angry red to match her  eyes. It took considerable effort to notice the hints of panic, and how her eyes flicked at the walls and window. Her beet red face slowly cooled, her eyes went wide, and her hands twitched upward, towards her arm. Her injured arm. Silently, Shuichi berated himself - _of course no one can really fight well when injured goddammit how could he forget things like that_ \- but said nothing, in fear of her reaction to anything he might say and in fear of what might've heard her outside.

He could hear movement - something from the direction of the staircase, and someone else rushing past the class to meet them.

“ _Did you hear that?_ ”

“ _I did!_ ”

“ _Out of the way, there has to be someon_ -”

“ _Don’t bother. I saw them heading towards the vents._ ”

“ _What?!_ ”

“ _They’re small enough for that?_ ”

“ _The vents are bigger than you think. Hurry up, if you want to catch them, I know where to cut them off._ ”

He saw Maki’s nose visibly crinkle at that, although she said nothing until it was quiet again. “…What the hell?”

“They had to know. I guess… they’re giving us time?”

She quickly rounded on him. “Are you telling me one of the lunatics took pity on us?”

“No, that… had to be an Observer,” Shuichi admitted. Rule four, don't rely on Observers to help when that could backfire in moments. Another rule broken.

Maki looked more lost than she’d ever looked before, and Shuichi sucked in a breath as the realization hit him: she may actually know very little about the Hunt at all. But he could confront that issue later - not now, while they had still trapped themselves. He couldn’t let their borrowed time go to waste… _Think,_ think _dammit! You’ve screwed up enough, you can't screw up anymore!_

Shuichi glanced around the classroom again, covering his mouth and racking his brain one more time. Desks, chairs, file cabinets, shelves, the old rolling TV cabinet that was still plugged into the wall…

He stiffened.

“This…I’m not sure if it’ll work.”

Maaki grit her teeth. “Just say it.”

“A-All the cables in the class,” he mumbled through his fingers. “Gather them up and tie them together?”

Maki quirked a brow at first. Then she followed his glance towards the window.

“…If you get me the cables, I’ll tie them.”

Shuichi nodded once, then set off to work. Neither of them spoke as they fell into a system - he combed the classroom, dragging any decent cable he could find into the center, where she quickly tied the new cable to the end of the others. In a matter of minutes, they had a fairly long rope extending from the back of the TV cabinet. At that point, Shuichi opened the window and peered outside. No one down below, as far as he could tell.

“I'll go first,” she muttered, clutching the cable in her left hand and the projector in her right. “You’d die in half a second if someone was down there to ambush us.”

“Uh… Thanks?”

Maki quirked a brow and held out the cable. “Hold the rope thing.”

“Right.”

Shuichi held onto the cable as Maki climbed up and over the windowsill. He recoiled as her weight pulled on the cable, but to his relief, it didn't fly out of his hands.

Now was the tricky part.

Careful not to let go of the makeshift rope, he brought the TV cabinet as close to the window as he could. He pulled himself onto the windowsill, feeling his breath catch in his throat like fabric caught on thorns. He took a deep breath. He tightened his grip on the cable, and slid off the windowsill.

There was a horrible moment where he felt himself falling, nothing to hold him. Then there was a harsh sound as the cabinet hit the wall, the cable recoiled, he felt the brick wall meet his shoulder and temple, but he shook off the dizziness and kept moving. The cable was a bit short, and the last drop sent a bit of shock into his knees, but he was on open ground - this was better, much better.

Maki had gone ahead, right off of the various paths crisscrossing the campus and into the brush. It was nearly pitch black, every leaf that loudly crunched under Shuichi’s shoes sent another jolt of fear through his heart, and with every step the brush grew thick and dark enough to pull at the legs of his pants. Despite this, and despite Maki’s incredible speed, he was able to move fast enough to keep her in sight. His mind was faster than his feet - the crisp night air was on his face and in his lungs, clearing the haze from his head - and he was steadily forming a mental map of the campus. Maki was heading for the labs, and even if she was taking the long way, it wouldn’t be long before they ran into a Hunter or several. He had to be quick.

He plotted a path and a destination, then hissed, “Maki? I know somewhere we can rest!”

Once she paused and glanced over her shoulder at him, he turned on his heel and rushed off in a different direction. Shuichi didn’t slow down until he reached the playing fields. Of course, he had no intention of crossing them - that was asking to be spotted - but rather the little tunnel-like alcove that sat hidden within the wooded edge of the fields. As he approached, he could hear the quiet hush of the brook that snaked out of the alcove. It splashed up on his shoes and sent a cold chill through his toes to contrast the exhausted burn between his ribs, but he didn’t mind. He nearly collapsed against the tunnel’s wall, and glanced outside. The skies were patterned with clouds, but moonbeams managed to peek through with enough strength that Shuichi could easily imagine the round disc behind the clouds.

Maki sat down on a dry spot of ground, and her glare turned to him. “…How did you know about this?” Were Shuichi not trained to detect small details, he wouldn’t have caught the hint of exhaustion in her voice.

“All sports fields…” He gasped for air, “have a drainage system…”

Her response was a slow, thoughtful look downward as she dropped the projector. Then she turned her attention to her arm. Shuichi watched her rip off the sleeve without a care, exposing the pale lines swirling over her upper arm, like fire - her own mark, like the one on his forehead - as well as the wound that cut across the design. The sleeve and Maki’s hand had kept the blood from splattering everywhere, but now he could see that the cut was frighteningly deep, seemed to stretch over her bicep down to the side of her elbow, and was still very much bleeding. She took the tattered remains of her sleeve and went about tying it over the wound.

When she caught him staring with his face as pale as bone, she huffed, “What?”

“You…” Shuichi wanted to ask how she’d borne that as well as she had, but surely an assassin had gotten worse injuries. So he swallowed the lump in his throat and changed his question. “How did you get…?”

Her nose crinkled again, into a ghost of a snarl. “I was just waking up when someone forced the lock open. Didn’t seem to take much effort - I doubt they even realized it was actually locked.”

Shuichi didn’t need to ask any other questions - Hunters were almost always armed. Except…

“I thought they said the locks were stronger than that. I even checked mine the first day…”

“So did I, obviously. Lot of good it did me.”

Alarms blared in his head at that. He would have to check his door again, after this was nightmare was over. He checked the time.

“It’s 3. We have another hour before we can head back.”

“…No point in staying in one place like a sitting duck then,” she huffed. Maki stood up straight and adjusted her makeshift tourniquet before heading out into the dark without another word.

His head was a mess, his head and shoulder still stung, he’d started to feel a dull ache in his limbs and in his chest, and his stomach churned with the knowledge that the next night would be the same song and dance.

 _This night could’ve gone better,_ Shuichi thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, that's what I got, I plan to continue it but let's see what life brings, hmm? Feel free to comment below and tell me what you think and such! It's appreciated.


End file.
